


Transference

by storyspinner70



Category: Supernatural, Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 21:30:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20396461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyspinner70/pseuds/storyspinner70
Summary: Dean and Sam have come to an uneasy truce after the whole Ruby/starting the Apocalypse thing. They’re working on how to get back to where they were, but the going isn’t easy. On a detour to take care of a simple salt and burn, Dean had had enough of the brittle awkwardness between him and Sam and stepped out to drink the night away. Owen Harper was out of sorts and headed to the same bar - even if he couldn’t drink anymore.Written for A Ficathon Goes Into A Bar 2019.





	Transference

****Prompt:**** Dean Winchester goes into a bar and meets... Owen Harper!

****Fandoms:**** Supernatural and Torchwood

****Pairings:**** Dean Winchester & Owen Harper

****A/N: ****I will admit to watching Torchwood strictly for John Barrowman and to not liking Owen all that much. I’ll also admit to not realizing exactly how much lore Torchwood and Supernatural share, though in entirely different iterations. It wasn’t until I was looking for points of intersection that I realized there were a ton of them.

Speaking of intersections, Owen’s last appearances were during Series 3 of Torchwood, which coincides with Season 4 of Supernatural in real US season time. Regardless of the actual time period it might be on Torchwood, we’re gonna use that time scheme to connect and parallel them. 

Also, yep, The Pharm bar name is a nod to the group that caused so much trouble for Owen and everyone else in the Torchwood series.

** **Transference** **

Dean wasn’t a stranger to men like the one that just marched into the bar. He’d felt the breeze when the man had come in and, like everyone else that had come or gone, Dean was discreetly tracking him as he moved through the crowd.

The Pharm was pretty busy and from what Dean had seen it was business as usual. He and Sam had been passing through to somewhere else when a simple salt and burn had popped onto Sammy’s radar, so they’d made a short detour. It had been rough for him and Sam the last year or so, and they didn’t seem to be getting much easier. 

They’d tried it together for awhile, then apart when Dean just couldn’t seem to forgive or forget, then back together again when they’d figured out exactly what that would do to the world. Instead of figuring out how to ease things with Sammy, though, he was hanging out in a crowded bar. Par for the course, then.

The man had made his way to the bar, and stopped in the empty space between Dean and the wall. He’d moved smoothly through the crowd, people swaying almost instinctively out of his way. He was obviously working to look nonchalant, but Dean could see the emotions swirling in the man’s eyes as he tried repeatedly to get the bartender’s attention.

“Name’s Dean, having trouble?”

The man glared at Dean, then did a quick double take. “You’re definitely pretty, but not my type, sorry.” The man swept his eyes over Dean once more. “Jack would love you though.”

Dean just arched a brow.

The man sighed. “Owen. Owen Harper. Seriously though, I’m looking for someone a little more female,” he lowered his voice and Dean barely heard his muttered, “and a lot more Asian.”

“I’m not picking you up, dude. You came over here and it looked like you’re having trouble getting the bartender’s attention. I was just going to offer to help. That’s __all__.”

Owen grimaced. “Sorry about that. I… I can’t drink anymore anyway. It’s fine. I don’t even know why I’m here.”

Dean snorted a hard laugh that caught Owen’s attention.

“Why are you here, Dean was it?”

“I’m in town on business,” Dean started smoothly.

Owen took in Dean’s worn clothes and the eyes that had clearly seen too much.

“My…” Dean paused for a moment, taking a quick drink of beer to try to cover the lapse, “…my partner and I are having some issues. It’s making the work harder, you know?”

“I know all about that,” Owen said, settling onto the cracked stool.

“You had to deal with a troublesome partner before?”

“I think,” Owen stopped. “I thought so, but I think actually I was the trouble.”

“Ah.”

“You think you’ll work it out?”

“We’re going to have to. How about you? Did you figure it out?”

“Yeah. Too late to do any good, but yeah, I figured it out.”

“So, you can’t drink, huh? You sober?”

“Permanently sober, you could say,” Owen laughed.

“Isn’t that the goal?”

Owen turned to Dean then and looked him over again, this time as if sizing him up. “I’m dead, actually.”

Dean took another drink of beer and said, “I know.”

Owen narrowed his eyes at Dean.

“Business trip,” Dean stated cryptically.

“I’ve been dead before,” Owen started.

“Haven’t we all,” Dean scoffed.

Owen turned to face Dean fully. “Who are you?”

“Just a traveler. Someone who’s spent more time with death than I care to remember.”

“Death or death?” Owen asked, staring intently at Dean.

Dean knew what he was trying to say. “Both. You wouldn’t think someone that loved fried pickles that much would be so intimidating.”

“My experience was clearly different than yours.”

“How long have you been dead?”

“A long time. Technically I was __undead __for awhile. This time though…” Owen swallowed deeply. “…this time is for real.”

“How did you end up here?” Dean asked casually.

“Why aren’t you freaking out over this?” Owen demanded.

“My brother died in front of my eyes, so I made a demon deal to bring him back. The next year, I went to Hell to pay for it.”

“And that’s why I’m here. I died for good and went to Hell.”

“This?” Dean gestured around the bar. “This isn’t Hell, my friend. This is planet Earth. Hell wasn’t for me. I left.”

Owen’s eyebrows climbed, but he didn’t respond to that. “I don’t know why I’m here then.”

“Where’s your body?”

“Probably floating around in space somewhere. Honestly, I have no idea. Wait…” Owen straightened up, “am __I __your business?”

“Yep.”

“Damn. How did that happen?”

“People know you’re here. They can’t tell who you are or what’s going on, but they know you’re…” Dean flicked a glance toward Owen. “…they know you don’t belong here.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

“I don’t know man. Normally, we dig up the body or find the bones, cover them with salt and gasoline and,” Dean wiggled his fingers, “whoosh!”

“Whoosh,” Owen mimicked instinctively. “But you don’t have my body.”

“Nope.”

“So what now?”

“I don’t know. You gotta move on. I can’t really help you with this I don’t think.” Dean frowned in thought. “Is there anything that’s keeping you here? Anything you left undone or something someone did to you that you’re looking for revenge for?”

“Tosh,” Owen answered promptly.

“Is that your Asian beauty?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s that story?”

“What’s going on with you and your partner?” Owen countered.

“It’s my brother. He…” Dean swallowed. “He was trying to do the right thing,” Dean emphasized. “He turned to a demon that lied to him instead of me. He hid it from me.” Dean was silent for a moment. “He and I played our parts and started the Apocalypse,” he stated calmly, draining the last of his beer and signaling for another.

Owen just stared at Dean.

Dean shrugged. “Tell me about Tosh.”

“She loved me. I ignored her,” he said simply. “Until it was too late.”

“That sucks man.”

Owen slumped against the bar.

“You know you have to go,” Dean said quietly.

“I don’t know how.”

Dean stared at the beer left in his glass. “I don’t know either, Owen.” Dean drank the last of his beer and threw a tip down on the bar, nodding at the bartender. “You have to figure it out though. I don’t want to have to come back here. I don’t want to have to trap you or something.” Dean slipped back into his jacket. “I’ll be back through in a week or so probably.” He looked up at Owen. “Please be gone by then.”

“I’ll do my best,” Owen said. “And hey, stay away from Death, okay? He’s not as nice as you think he is.”

Dean snorted a laugh.

“And maybe look for angels instead of demons, yeah?”

“Angels are dicks, my friend. There’s not much difference; trust me.”

Owen smiled and waved as Dean rapped on the bar top and said good bye. “Oh!” Owen called out before Dean reached the door. “If you ever encounter anyone named Abaddon, run. Trust me on this. Anyone named Abaddon is bad news!”

Dean nodded and smiled one last time before he walked out into the dark.

Owen nodded back even though Dean was gone. He sat at the bar until it was empty of everything but shadows. He thought about Tosh, about Jack. About Ianto. About Gwen and Suzie. About Copley that killed him in the first place. He thought about the things he’d done and who he’d done them for.

He wondered how he was going to leave. Where he’d go. What it would be like.

He thought about Dean with his pretty face and his flinty eyes. He thought about Dean’s brother and how he could feel Dean’s disappointment in him like it was Owen’s own failures that caused it. He didn’t know if he was stuck in the Rift or if this was really Hell like he’d thought but he knew he was going to have to try to move on.

Tosh’s face flashed before his eyes again and he wondered. Could he do it?

The rising sun began pushing away some of the shadows in the bar. Owen hummed.

Well, he had a week to find out.


End file.
